Atmospheric water harvesting is intended to produce water in the general vicinity of its place of use. Producing potable water near its place of use removes the requirement for either temporary or fixed water delivery systems such as pipelines and canals or temporary delivery systems such as bulk motorized water tankers. Production of high-quality water at or near its place of use is superior to transporting bottled drinking water, which requires substantial consumption of energy for delivery and waste disposal. Water harvesters are also superior environmentally because water bottle disposal is not an issue; water bottles are reused in conjunction with water harvesting. In addition, the water produced from suitably designed and operated water harvesters is pure and suitable and safe for drinking with very little treatment.
Water harvesting has not generally been regarded as a replacement for conventional piped water supplies because of its relatively higher cost and lower volumes. In present water systems, there is an effective “waste” of public high quality water that is used for low-quality uses, such as flushing toilets and watering lawns.
Conventional water supplies are running short because of increased demand and local overuse of natural water supplies. In addition, the cost of conventional water supplies is increasing significantly. One of the drivers of increased water cost is the incorporation of desalinated water, which is relatively expensive to produce using current technologies, in the basic supply. Perceptions about the quality of public water supply has led to bottled water being used increasingly as a regular personal drinking water source, even though it is much more expensive than public water supply.
In atmospheric water harvesting, condensation of water is achieved by providing and maintaining a chilled surface upon which water from moist air condenses. This is well known as a byproduct of chilling air, as in air conditioning systems in which chilling the air is the objective or in air dehumidification systems in which the objective is to achieve relative dryness of the exhaust air. However, water produced as a byproduct in these systems is more expensive to produce than that which is produced in a water harvester apparatus that is optimized for energy efficient water production by not overcooling air or water. In addition, byproduct water quality is generally not suitable for drinking, and can be dangerous, without additional treatment that is not provided for by an apparatus that does not have water production as a primary objective.
Water harvesting apparatus that has been specifically designed to produce water from air already exists (but without the efficiency and sophistication of this invention) which allows the production of water of the same or superior quality as bottled water but without the delivery or environmental waste issues and in quantities that are suitable for personal or family use on a regular and extended basis. Water harvesting provides high quality potable water without the continued cost of producing bottles directly in proportion to the quantity of water delivered, at a lower cost than bottled water.